In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems are typically tailored to the needs of aircraft that carry more than 150 passengers. Such aircraft have spacious interiors as well as generous weight carrying and power supply capabilities that can support IFE systems having in-seat mounted video displays, seat electronics boxes mounted under rows of seats for processing content for the video displays, and large closets in which to store head-end equipment that distributes content to the seat electronics boxes. Potential drawbacks of such an IFE system can include the expense of equipment installation (seat modification effort and aircraft downtime for installation), increased aircraft weight (with associated increased fuel consumption), equipment cost, and electrical power consumption. These drawbacks can make IFE systems impractical and expensive for use in the aircraft of regional jet carriers. One approach to partially compensate for these drawbacks is to install in-seat video displays in only a portion of the aircraft. This is often done on a service class basis (first class only, for example). Another approach is to reduce the level of personalization in IFE systems, such as by having individual passengers share monitors with many other passengers. However, this approach can degrade the in-flight experiences for those passengers.
Some IFE systems have been proposed which provide battery-powered hand-out media players. Such media players are typically DVD players, where passengers obtain the DVDs from a library carried onboard the aircraft. The library of DVDs has to be maintained by the flight crew, who is also responsible for recharging and maintaining the media players.